The positive prospects of our study provide a favourable climate for taking effective measures. This means we can promote the evolution of skills that digitalisation requires

Bart Steukers - Director, Project Manager Shaping the future of work

Not one industry in the Belgian economy will escape the consequences of digitalisation, but the impact will be different on each sector. We already know the extent of the effect

Patrick Slaets - Chief Data analyst

4 STRATEGIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE LABOUR MARKET

and the action they require

UPGRADING the skills of all employees

STRATEGY The digitalisation and economic dynamics will have an impact on the content of almost all jobs at all levels. The average required level of digital competencies is increasing everywhere. Ook het gewenste niveau van algemene vaardigheden komt hoger te liggen.

FIELD OF ACTION1. Proactively upgrade the digital and accompanying skills of 4.5 million workers.

RETRAINING workers and the unemployed

STRATEGY310 000 (working and unemployed) people must be retrained by 2030 to ensure they have sustainable jobs. Some people (150,000) will need moderate retraining that takes two to six months. Others (160,000) require intensive retraining during six to eighteen months.

FIELDS OF ACTION2. Targeted communications on opportunities on the labour market 3. Develop professional retraining programmes for the unemployed 4. Launch retraining programmes for job profiles that are at risk 5. Facilitate travel between regions 6. Increase labour market flexibility and implement changes to the social security system to make it easier for people to switch to a sustainable job

EMPLOYMENT ACTIVATION

STRATEGY584,000 vacancies will not be filled in 2030 if we fail to implement the necessary measures. To meet this high demand for workers, people will need to be activated as much as possible. The Shaping the Future of Work analysis indicates that 268,000 vacancies will be filled through activation. In Shaping the Future of Work, Agoria proposes various activation measures.

FIELDS OF ACTION

IActivating the unemployed to fill 193,000 vacancies

7. Increase the financial difference of people working and not working 8. Make it easier to achieve work-life balance 9. Increase the employability of unskilled workers through technology 10. Improve access to employment for people with an immigration background 11. Adjust the working conditions of workers over 55 and make their pay less dependent on seniority and more dependent on their market value 12. Accelerate the phasing

IIFuelling economic migration to fill 29 000 vacancies

13. Attract economic immigrants specifically for high-demand jobs

IIIWorking more and/or working longer to fill 15,000 vacancies

14. Offer incentives to work more and/or work longer 15. Encourage taking on specific roles, such as coaching/ training at the end of a career

IVEnsuring that study programmes and students’ choices are more in line with labour demand to fill 31,000 vacancies

16. Inform students better on labour market evolution 17. Introduce financial and other mechanisms to encourage young people to choose courses that are geared towards the future 18. Increase the budget for STEM study programmes 19. Give digital and related skills a more prominent place in all study programmes